Sunday, July 22, 2012

Out on Seoul . . .

I took my daughter to see Batman yesterday. No, not the Seoul bar that Mr. Casey Lartigue stumbled upon a couple of years ago, but the recent movie, The Dark Knight Rises. Rather dark theme for a fifteen-year-old kid? Well, yeah, I guess, but she's not afraid to watch zombie films, stuff that I won't watch for fear of night terrors! Besides, she invited me to see the Batman movie. I had to pay, of course.

The theme was rather dark, even for me, but I have an interest in terrorism. An academic interest, I mean, not a personal one -- except to the degree that the 9/11 attack felt personal, and felt even more personal when I learned that one of my brothers knew a flight attendant who died in the first plane to strike the WTC.

The film was great, with several unexpected twists, and it explored some motifs of terrorism, if not very deeply, but the terrorist plot was believable only within the framework of this well-crafted movie. An army of terrorists gathered in the sewers beneath Gotham CIty where one expects to find merely alligators? And how many years would they need for mixing enough concrete and explosives to blow up bridges, streets, and a football field?

That football scene provided a somewhat amusing sight gag as an unsuspecting Heinz Ward rushes toward the endzone for a touchdown, the field collapsing just behind his feet at every step. As he turns around in triumph, he discovers an enormous hole where the field had been. The Korean audience got a kick out of that scene because Heinz Ward is half Korean and widely recognized here in Korea.

My daughter and I left the cinema impressed, with her remarking, "I'll have to see this again, with my friends!" We then headed for a nearby Vietnamese restaurant, where over a long meal we discussed the film and life, though we didn't touch upon the shootings at the premiere showing in Aurora, Colorado. I don't think my daughter knows about those, and I still know too little myself to comment in any way worth listening to, except to express sorrow for the victims.

But if you haven't yet seen The Dark Knight Rises and are still intending to see it, here's the official site, where you can watch four official trailers.

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About Me

I am a professor at Ewha Womans University, where I teach composition, research writing, and cultural issues, including the occasional graduate seminar on Gnosticism and Johannine theology and the occasional undergraduate course on European history.
My doctorate is in history (U.C. Berkeley), with emphasis on religion and science. My thesis is on John's gospel and Gnosticism.
I also work as one-half of a translating team with my wife, and our most significant translation is Yi Kwang-su's novel The Soil, which was funded by the Literature Translation Institute of Korea.
I'm also an award-winning writer, and I recommend my novella, The Bottomless Bottle of Beer, to anyone interested.
I'm originally from the Arkansas Ozarks, but my academic career -- funded through doctoral and postdoctoral fellowships (e.g., Fulbright, Naumann, Lady Davis) -- has taken me through Texas, California, Switzerland, Germany, Australia, and Israel and has landed me in Seoul, South Korea. I've also traveled to Mexico, visited much of Europe, including Moscow, and touched down briefly in a few East Asian countries.
Hence: "Gypsy Scholar."